Farm Shares 2027
Ten shares. One drop. Money back for any week we can’t deliver.
A share is a bag of what the two acres are producing that week — ground fed on kelp, manure, compost and lime, nothing synthetic — collected in St. John’s one evening a week from late June to late October, paid ahead of the season so the seeds and the tunnel are paid for before the ground thaws.
Ten is small on purpose. It is one caterpillar tunnel, about twenty beds and eight to ten crops, worked by two people around other jobs — one of us is a firefighter on a 24-on, 72-off rotation. Ten shares is a number we can fill every week of a first season without promising more than the ground has shown us. If the first year goes well, year two is twenty to twenty-five, and the founding ten hear first.
Live up the shore? Skip the share and come to the gate; roots by the bag are cheaper than the share, and you pick.
The Guarantee
If we can’t start the season, every dollar back. If we have to stop part-way, every undelivered week back, pro rata, within a fortnight. The trigger is plain: two weeks running we can’t fill the bags, we call it. Share money sits in its own account until the first drop.
What it does not cover: a light week. Some bags will be lighter than others, and one or two crops will likely fail outright. That is a share. What it covers is us not showing up.
What’s in a Share
A share is what it says: your part of what the ground gives that year.
You don’t choose the items; the field does. Every week from late June to late October — eighteen weeks — you collect one bag from the drop point: six to eight items, 6–8 lb in June, 12–18 lb by October. The July bags are light. What is in it depends on the month. Roughly:
- June – July
Greens-heavy
Salad greens and spinach out of the tunnel, early kale, radish if it comes on. Light bags. The field crops are still in the ground. Anyone who signs up expecting potatoes in June will be disappointed; say so now.
- August
Greens, early roots, garlic
Salad greens continue. Bunched carrots and beets with the tops on, new potatoes, the first cabbage, garlic scapes and then fresh garlic. The bag gets heavier and less green.
- September – October
Roots, cabbage, storage
Potato, carrot, beet, turnip and cabbage in weights that keep — this is the Jiggs dinner end of the season. Kale and spinach for the shoulder. Cured garlic. The last drop is a bag meant to be eaten over weeks, not days.
Not certified organic. Nothing synthetic on the ground — fertility is kelp, manure, compost and lime, and the soil tests are on the farm page. Some things will fail in a first year on new ground; when they do, the bag will say so and be filled from what did grow.
How It Works
- 1
Hold a Place — $25, Refundable
Deposits open this autumn. A $25 deposit puts your name on the 2027 list. Ten shares planned for 2027 — and the soil makes the final call: if the ground needs another year before it can carry a season, shares wait and every deposit goes back. Deposits are refundable at any time before the season price is set, no questions asked; when ten are confirmed the list closes and the rest become the 2028 waitlist, who hear first.
- 2
Price Set in January
Share price is set in January, once we know what the seed order, the tunnel and the drop cost. We’ll publish a range here before deposits open. Everyone with a deposit gets the number by email the day it is fixed, and a fortnight to decide.
- 3
Confirm, and Pay in Instalments
Not a lump sum. Deposit in winter, balance in spring — or monthly, if that suits better. Your $25 comes off the total. If you decide not to go ahead when you see the price, the deposit is refunded in full and your place goes to the next name.
- 4
First Drop in Late June
Eighteen weeks, late June to late October, one bag a week at the drop point in St. John’s. We write on the day of each drop with what is in the bag and one short thing to do with the awkward item that week.
Swaps and Holidays
Holiday Hold
Skip up to two weeks in the season with notice — email by the Sunday before. Your bag that week goes to the next name on the waitlist, or is donated. We can’t double up the following week; the field doesn’t work like that. Missed weeks are made up in the last two drops as extra storage roots — potatoes and carrots keep, lettuce doesn’t. More than two weeks away, ask and we’ll sort something, or send a friend to collect.
Swaps
There is a swap crate at the drop: leave what you won’t use, take what someone else left. On top of that, tell us once at the start of the season the one item you won’t eat, and we keep it out of your bag — turnip for extra carrot, that sort of thing. One standing item per share; the crate handles the rest.
Splitting a Share
Fine by us. Two households can go halves on a share and sort the bag between themselves at the drop. One name on the list, one payment.
The Weekly Drop
- Day
- One weekday evening, every week from late June to late October.
- Time
- A fixed one-hour window, set before deposits open. We stay for the window and then we go. We’re in town that evening every week regardless — the drop doesn’t depend on weather or a shift.
- Where
- One fixed spot in town, confirmed before deposits open — St. John’s. Exact directions in the confirmation email. One point only in the first year; no home delivery, no second stop.
- If you miss it
- Your bag is held at the drop point for 24 hours if the host can keep it; otherwise it is donated the same evening. Either way, we write to say which. Send someone else to collect any week you like — just tell us the name.
Who It’s For
Probably Not for You If
- You want to choose every item, every week. A share doesn’t work that way; the stand does.
- You’re out of town most of July and August.
- You want tomatoes, peppers or anything that needs heat we don’t have. Eight to ten crops, all of them cold-hardy.
- The idea of a first-year farm getting something wrong would spoil it for you.
Probably for You If
- You cook a few nights a week and don’t mind being told what’s for dinner, within reason.
- You’d rather buy a season from two people forty-five minutes away than a bag from anywhere.
- You’ll be in St. John’s one fixed evening a week, late June to late October.
- You want to know exactly what went on the ground, and would like to see the soil test.
The Deposit
$25 by Interac e-Transfer, or cash at the stand. Fully refundable at any time before the season price is set, no questions asked. It comes off the share price if you go ahead. Ten shares planned for 2027; places go in the order the deposits arrived. If the soil isn’t ready, the season waits a year and deposits go back.
- By e-Transfer
- Send $25 to info@harbourandhillsnl.com. Put your name and “2027 share” in the message. Auto-deposit is on — no security question. We reply within one business day to confirm your place.
- In cash
- At the stand, to one of us. We’ll write your name down there and then.
- Refunds
- Ask, and it’s sent back by e-Transfer within five days. No reason needed.
Deposits open this autumn. Leave an email and we’ll write the day they do — nothing else until then.
Ten shares, one drop, two acres. Back to the farm.